Void Lords
The Void Lords are a military order of independent ship captains, avowed to the protection of mother Sanghelios herself. The Void Lord maintain a large fleet of patrol vessels, patrolling Sanghelios to defend it from foreign threats. History Formation Formed in the time of the original Republic, the Void Lords were formed in response to attacks by seceding colonies. The rate of expansion of the Sangheili empire resulted in many colonies, most of which were poorly monitored. Warlords arose in these worlds, attempting to fight against the home world. Sanghelios itself was left critically undefended because the fleets were far away from home, expanding the empire. In response to this, many Kaidons on Sanghelios swore to form a fleet, free of Council oversight, to defend their homes. Forsaking their lands and titles, they became the first Void Lords, and took to defending Sanghelios with a variety of scavenged or improvised warships. Taking up positions in orbit around Sanghelios, they awaited the next rebel attack, and decisively repulsed it, annihilating the rebels. This hodgepodge fleet of roughly aligned captains repeatedly turned back rebel attacks, maintaining a sphere of safety around Sanghelios and it's satellites. Sworn in to service by the council as a Military Order, they were outfitted with true warships, and set forth to protect Sanghelios. During the years of their war with the San'Shyuum, they only had one engagement, when the Dreadnought hit fleet reserves over Sanghelios, and the Void Lords suffered casualties attempting to steer it away. Recent Years Role The Void Lords maintain a vigil over Sanghelios, commanding warships to deter pirates, smugglers and brigands from around the orbit of Sanghelios. In recent years, they have expanded to other major colonies in order to bring peace and stability further afield. Around Sanghelios they have sixty warships of various classes, maintaining patrol patterns along high-risk areas, and patrol as far as the outer planets of the Urs system. The Void Lords not only combat smugglers, but also fight pirates and raiders. The Void Lords have a single base of operations, in geosynchronous orbit over Sanghelios' northern pole. This station serves as a home port, to rearm, refuel and resupply them, and also serves as a meeting point for the Void Lords themselves. Recruitment The Void Lords exclusively recruit from experienced naval captains, those had previously served in the Covenant, or more recently, having served in the Republic. Ship masters will put their name forward, close to the end of their tour, in hopes of serving as a Void Lord. The serving Void Lords decide amongst themselves who may join their number, measuring up their skill, their dedication to the security of their home, and their conviction. When a Void Lord passes away, or steps down, the remaining Void Lords choose a member from their recruit pool. They'll usually choose a few, and test the applicants to pick the most suitable. The captain chosen to become a Void Lord must swear the oath of the Order, renouncing his clan, and renouncing his right to step foot on Sanghelios. By exiling themselves from their home world, they strengthen the conviction to protect it no matter the cost. Only the ship masters belong to the order. The crew of their vessels are hired hands, often experienced crewmen, who are attracted by the good pay and the honour of working alongside the Void Lords. Equipment The Void Lords are funded through ancient claims to the Keeps that first funded them, and since then have drawn funding from other clans. These clans pay a tithe to the Void Lords, which they use to keep their ships up to date. In more recent years, the Republic has began paying them a tithe too to ensure the growth of their order, and to promote them to expand their sphere of operations. The Void Lords vessels are some of the most ancient still in use, most being vessels from the dawn of the Covenant. Most of the Void Lord's vessels are escort-classes, such as the SDV-class Heavy Corvette and RPV-class Destroyer. The Lords contain several CPV-class heavy destroyers and CCS-class battle cruisers, usually reserved for more dire interdiction missions. The Void Lords have a two RCS-class Armoured Cruisers for the most dire missions. As their flagship, they have as ingle Reverence-class Command Cruiser. Since their alliance with the Republic, they've steadily began upgrading their vessels and weapons, to make their fleet more lethal than ever. While principally armed for ship to ship combat, most of their vessels have complements of fighters and drop ships, with troops trained to board the ships of their enemies. All their warships, fighters and armour are painted a shade of purple deeper than the usually Covenant pattern, approaching an almost black colour.